‘She bought our loyalty’: Why is Taylor Swift facing backlash over how she spent her $2 billion Eras Tour earnings? Check it out

Taylor Swift is ending the year with a huge sense of relief and joy. As she told Stephen Colbert during her December 10 appearance on The Stephen Colbert Show, she used her Era Tour’s earnings. The Eras Tour, which sold over $2 billion in tickets according to The New York Times, gave her the chance to buy back the rights to her first six albums. This dream had stayed out of reach for a long time, but Swift explained that the tour changed everything for her.

While talking with Colbert, Swift openly shared how she used the huge earnings from the tour. She said, “That’s how I spent that Eras Tour money. My fans are why I was able to get my music back.”

Swift announced in May that she had finally been able to buy her masters from Shamrock Capital, the company that purchased them in 2020 from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings, which had paid about $300 million for the collection.

At the time, she wrote in a letter on her website that the moment was beyond her “greatest dream come true.” She added, “All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to one day purchase my master’s outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy.” She also wrote that she would be “forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me.”

Taylor said her good fortune in 2025 didn’t end with reclaiming her music. She told Colbert that having the Eras Tour also led to another milestone, getting engaged to Travis Kelce in August. Their love story began in 2023 after he publicly shared he was disappointed he couldn’t meet her at her Kansas City show.

Looking back, she explained, “Getting engaged to the love of my life and getting all my music back were two things that just never could have happened. It wasn't like, ‘Oh, it's just a matter of time.’ Both those things could have just never arrived in my life. And I’m so grateful for both of those things happening.”

But Swift’s open explanation about spending her tour earnings brought a surprising reaction, backlash from some fans. Many people took to social media to express frustration. One user wrote, “She didn't buy her masters; she bought our loyalty. The money was just a formality.” Another commented, “She ensured that she would have generational wealth.” A third user said, “Guess she sold her fans.”

Others wrote longer criticisms. One person said, “Of course, Taylor had to flex that Eras Tour cash like a CEO doing a victory lap. ‘My fans are why I got my master's back’ is wild because she basically said, ‘Yeah, I sold out stadiums for a year straight and bought my own art back because the industry is that shady.’ Everybody else complains about their label, Taylor just drops a billion-dollar tour and buys the whole catalogue like she’s collecting Infinity Stones. And the craziest part? Her fans are cheering while the rest of the industry is realising she just exposed how broken the system actually is.”

Another user argued she should have used the tour money differently, writing, “She could have used that money to support those in need!”

Even with the backlash, Swift has another big moment ahead. Friday, December 12, is not only the eve of her birthday but also a treat for fans. Disney+ is releasing two new Eras Tour projects. Taylor Swift’s The End of an Era docuseries premieres at 3 a.m. ET/midnight PT, with two episodes arriving on December 12 and two more released every Friday through Dec. 26.